UCLA’s sophomore center put himself in the Wayback Machine the other day before practice, thinking about the days of championships and big stats and famous coaches in the stands.

When Parker played at Miller Grove High in Atlanta, he won four consecutive state AAAA championships. North Carolina’s Roy Williams and Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski made special trips to see him.

Miller Grove traveled the nation and so did his AAU team, and most people figured Parker would be at least an NBA rookie by now.

“We beat you with class and efficiency,” Parker recalled. “Everybody we played would cramp up and we’d keep rolling. We’d be up by 10 going in the fourth and win by 25. And, on defense, we’d lock you down. We didn’t like it when you scored on us.”

Now Parker is averaging 7.4 points, 4.5 rebounds and 18.1 minutes. He scored 12 on 6-for-8 shooting against Stanford, but most of his games are single-singles.

He does a lot of video time, watching New Mexico’s Cameron Bairstow, a big man who leaped out of the crowd and is averaging 20 and eight as a senior. Steve Alford coached Bairstow last year, Parker now.

“We tried to show Tony a guy who stayed the course and kept working,” Alford said. “We tell him not to get disgruntled, not to expect to be a 15-15 guy as a sophomore. But we’re seeing incredible progress.”

It was assumed that players would be watching Parker for guidance by now.

Still, he seems on board.

Back in Atlanta, the neighborhood guys ask him why he hasn’t transferred yet. But it didn’t happen after last season, when Parker averaged eight minutes and ran afoul of Ben Howland at times.

“I must have spent 10 nights crying last year,” Parker said. “It was the worst year of my life. We won the Pac-12 but we weren’t winning like crazy, not like I was used to.

“I know there’s a lot of programs where the ball would come to me every time. But Coach Alford believes in me. I basically sat out a year so I had to re-learn the game.”

Learning it the first time was hard enough.

As a seventh grader Parker weighed 300. He is still known as Fat Boy or Fat Tone at home. The next year he began working with Kevin Peoples, who is Miller Grove’s strength coach. Yeah, in high school.

Peoples put a ladder down on the sand pit at school and asked Parker to step through it. Before long, he walked away.

“There’s no way I can work with this kid,” he told Sharman White, the Miller Grove coach. “He can’t do it.”

Parker kept coming back.

“That year I averaged 25 points, 10 rebounds, all because of him,” he said. “He works with pro guys. You walk in there at 6 a.m., he’s doing a no-hands back flip. He’s crazy, but he’s one of my best friends today.”

Parker was the only freshman on a team with seven seniors that included Stephen Hill, now a Jets wide receiver.

“They beat me up every day,” he said. “I was going home with blood. But I had a 6-7 wing, a 6-8 wing, a 6-10 center off the bench. We beat Derrick Favors’ (of the Utah Jazz) team by 15 points.”

The next year Parker was the only returning starter and had ankle and toe problems. He came back for the final. “Won that one by 30,” he said.

The next year, the Wolverines were ranked 15th nationally in the preseason. “We were mad about it,” he said.

The fourth title came tougher. Miller Grove got to the regional and beat Southwest, led by Memphis’ Shaq Goodwin, and then beat Southwest again in the final.

“Now they’re going for six in a row,” Parker said. “Every year I’ve played, I’ve lost just one championship, and that was in one of the regionals.”

Miller Grove often practiced at 5:30 a.m. Summertime workouts consisted of running four miles while wearing a hoodie in the steamy Atlanta mornings.

Practices ended with Three Stops, which meant the defense had to shut down the offense three consecutive times. It got rowdy, but Parker remembers wiping out a 10-point deficit in the final three minutes.

Parker’s AAU coach was Kory McCray. UCLA invited McCray to leave with Howland. McCray is at LSU now. Parker is still here.

“I just need to learn how to be proactive instead of reactive,” Parker said. “If I keep working I think my ultimate goal will be reached.”

User Agreement

Keep it civil and stay on topic. No profanity, vulgarity, racial
slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about
tragedies will be blocked. By posting your comment, you agree to
allow Orange County Register Communications, Inc. the right to
republish your name and comment in additional Register publications
without any notification or payment.